I wanted to celebrate New Music Friday’s rebranding by digging into the vaults and hauling out an album that I haven’t listened to, much less written about, in quite some time.

I’m talking about Tool’s controversial 2006 album, 10,000 Days.

Why controversial? Maybe that’s too strong a word, but I think it’s fair to say that this album was received with just a touch less enthusiasm than its predecessor, the masterful (and still, probably, the best prog metal album of all time) Lateralus.

Any album that makes me want to dissolve into a fit of tears deserves a spot in a year’s-end list. For many more reasons than I could go into here, Distant Satellites is an incredibly personal album for me. But the part you’re most interested in is the quality of the music, so once again I’m pleased beyond words that Anathema have continued their winning streak here. As a follow-up to the masterful Weather Systems, it’s certainly successful. But rather than resting on their laurels and turning out the same album, the band decided to branch out in new directions. Periodic forays into electronica elevate this album and prove that this band’s pioneering spirit is as intact as it’s ever been. You can expect moments of exhilarating beauty and overwhelming darkness alike.

What follows is something I’ve been meaning to write for a while, but was finally convinced to do so by Paul Krugman’s excellent op-ed piece from The New York Times on April 10th called “Where Government Excels.”

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With characters like indefensible lunatic Ted Cruz and libertarian sell-out Rand Paul on one side, and Hillary “Political Dynasty” Clinton and Bernie “democratic socialist” Sanders on the other, the 2016 presidential election is already off to, well, an interesting start.